Machine for cleaning and polishing space bands and the like



Sept. 22, 1953 G. P. HARTZELL 2,652,579

MACHINE FOR CLEANING AND POLISHING SPACE BANDS AND THE LIKE Filed July13, 1950 8 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR geo yeff i am} 1 Q;

' TTORN EYS Se t. 22, 1953 G. P. HARTZELL MACHINE FOR CLEANING ANDPOLISHING SPACE BANDS AND THE LIKE 8 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 15, 19501 v a I 4 1 H Sept. 22, 1953 s. P. HARTZELL 2,652,579

MACHINE FOR CLEANING AND POLISHING SPACE BANDS AND THE LIKE Filed July15, 1950 8 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR ZZ e0 1 Maize v a? (a l am. as). Q;

S P 1953 G. P. HARTZELL 2,652,579

MACHINE FOR CLEANING AND POLISHING SPACE BANDS AND THE LIKE Filed July15, 1950 a Sheets-Sheet 4 /04 2 1 2/ N mag/23 9141/ L8 m4 4 34 M9/ 3 I"say a5 INVENTOR Sept. 22, 1953 5, P, HARTZELL 2,652,579

MACHINE FOR CLEANING AND POLISHING SPACE BANDS AND THE LIKE Filed July1;, 1950 8 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR Sept. 22, 1953. p HARTZELL 2,652,579

MACHINE FOR CLEANING AND POLISNING SPACE BANDS AND THELIKE Filed July13, 1950 8 Sheets-Sheet 6 INVENTOR BY em! l v Sept. 22, 1953 a. P.HARTZELL MACHINE FOR CLEANING AND POLISHING SPACE BANDS AND THE LIKE 8Sheets-Sheet 7 Filed July 13, 1950 Se t. 22, 1953 e. P. HARTZELL2,652,579

MACHINE FOR CLEANING AND POLISHING SPACE BANDS AND THE LIKE Filed July13, 1950 s sheets-sheet s"UIIIIIHIIHIlHIHIHHIHIIIIIHIHIIIIIIHIIHIHIIHHHIIIlIIIIIIHIIIIIHHHHIIIPatented Sept. 22, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,652,579 mourns roaCLEANING mp rousiimo SPACE BANDS AND THE LIKE George P. Hartzell,Chester, Pa. Application July 13, 1950, Serial No.- 17315239 Claims.

The present invention relates to cleaning and polishing machinesespecially suited for space bands employed in printing.

7 The purpose of the invention is to obtain more thorough cleaning andpolishing of space bands and other articles and particularly cleaningand polishing of the portion of the body of a space band which isbeneath the sleeve when the sleeve is at the remote end.

A further purpose is to provide for relative movement of the sleeveandbody of the space band when the space band is being progressedbetween polishing elements.

A further purpose is to scrape one side of a space band, andparticularly one side of the sleeve, by a knife which is raised and thenbrought down in registry with the space band.

A further purpose is to confine the polishing medium by ribs on eitherside of the polishing bed and to move the space bands by lugs on a chainwhich extends up over the ribs and then down inside the ribs.

A further purpose is to interpose individual spacers between polishingblocks to prevent displacement of the blocks and avoid accumulation oflongitudinal pushing action on the forwardmost block.

A further purpose is to agitate the medium by an agitating rodmanipulated by the space bands as they move forward.-

A further purpose is to feed the space bands to the chain conveyor by apusher which raises the forward'most space band by one of the lugs untilit is able to drop over an abutment that formerly retained it.

A further purpose is to engage the forwardmost space band in the feederby a detent to prevent the improper feeding of a second space band atthe same time.

A further purpose is to place a retainer behind the feeder equipped witha slot or recess beneath the retainer through which the space band lugscan pass.

Further purposes appear in the specification and in the claims.

In the drawings 1 have chosen to illustrate one only of the numerousembodiments in which my invention may appear, selecting the forms shownfrom the standpoints of convenience in illustration, satisfactoryoperation and clear demon-straof' the principles involved.

Figure 1 is a perspective of the cleaning and polishing device of thepresent invention.

Figure 2 is a side elevation to enlarged scale showing the feedinghopper mechanism, the knife manipulating mechanism, the'pusher"mechanism and the funnel and tube for feeding the polishing medium, withthe side walls partially broken away to show the agitating rod.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary top plan view of the rear end of the machineshowing the subject matter ofFigure 2.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary section of Figure 2 on the line 4-4, thesection being taken through the'driving shaft.

Figure 5 is a section of Figure 2 on the line 5--5.

t Figure 6 is a fragmentary rear end elevation of the machine of theinvention.

Figure '7 is a fragmentary enlarged perspective of the feeding hopper,knife and first polishing blocks.

Figure 8 is a bottom plan view of one of the polishing blocks.

FigurefQ is a fragmentary central longitudinal section through the firstthree polishing blocks.

Figure 10 is a detailed perspective of the guide for the feeder whichsupports the detent and one of the abutinents of the hopper.

Figure 11 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective of the upper end of thefeeder.

Figure 12 is an enlarged section through the detent on the line l2l2 ofFigure 10.

Figure 13 is a fragmentary end elevation of the feeder showing theengagement with one of the lugs of the sleeve of the space band. Thespace band is shown in dot-and-dash lines.

Figure 14 is a section through the space band on the line 14-14 ofFigure '7.

Figure 15 is a fragmentary side elevation of the forward end of themachine.

Figure 16 is a fragmentary top plan view of the forward end of themachine as shown in Figlire 15.

Describing in illustration but not in limitation and referring to thedrawings:

Space bands as used in the printing trades accumulate foreign material,especially ink and grease, and frequently require cleaning andpolishing. Romyns U. S. Patent 2,231,196 granted February 11, 1941, isan example of a prior art machine designed to accomplish this cleaningand polishing.

Difiiculty has been encountered in the prior art in cleaning space bandsat points beneath the sleeves, which are slidable with respect to thebodies. In accordance with the present invention the sleeve and body ofthe space band are relatively moved and polishing is accomplished on thebody beneath the sleeve during the polishing operation.

Much of the foreign matter on the space bands is very adherent,particularly to the outer edge of the sleeves, and in accordance withthe present invention the polishing is supplemented by a scraping actionwith a knife, the knife being manipulated and brought down onthe spaceband when the space band is in position beneath the knife.

In prior art machines of this character, the polishing medium, such asgraphite with or without oil, has been difficult to confine and retainand has contaminated the chains. In accordance with the presentinvention the olish ing medium is confined at the sides of the polishingbed by ribs and the space bands are moved forward by lugs which extendover the ribs and then down between the ribs.

Provision is made in the first polishing block in the present inventionto allow the body of the space band to move comparatively freely throughthat block, while on the neXt polishing block a rib is provided whichretards or momentarily prevents the forward motion of the sleeve whileat the same time the body is pushed rapidly forward. In this way thebody of the space band can be polished beneath the sleeve.

Each of the individual polishing blocks is separately held againstlongitudinal motion by a spacer so that the block cannot push forwardand accumulate forward pressure on the forwardmost block or becomedisplaced.

An agitating rod is provided in the chamber for p01ishing medium andthis rod is manipulated by the drive of the space bands which engage thelower end of the rod.

The feeding of the space bands is greatly improved by moving them one ata time from a hopper by a feeder which carries the forwardmost spaceband, held by one lug, up over a retainer which had previouslyrestrained the other lug. The inadvertent feeding of a second space bandat the same time is prevented by a detent which engages the side of thespace band being fed. A second retainer behind the feeder has a recessbeneath the second retainer through which the lugs of the space band canpass, and the second retainer prevents other space bands behind thefirst space band from rising with the feeder.

While the invention will, it is believed, find its widest application incleaning and polishing space bands, it can be used for cleaning andpolishing other types of equipment.

The space band cleaning and polishing machine of the present inventioncomprises a supporting frame 20, a housing 2|, a feed hopper assembly22, a scraper knife assembly 23, a drive 24, a pusher arm 25, apolishing block assembly and a discharge hopper assembly 2'1.

The frame 20 comprises a rear leg 28 having a handle 30 (Figure 1), afront leg 3| carrying spaced rollers 32 and cross braces 33.

The housing 2| comprises side elements 34 running the length of thehousing, a bottom plate 35 connecting the side elements, a rear endplate 36 (Figure 6) and a forward end plate 3'. (Figures 1 and 14).

The rear end of the housing carries at the top a plate 38 (Figures 2 and6) which supports spaced side walls 39 of a feed hopper 40 whichsupports and feeds the space bands which are being cleaned.

The side walls 39 of the hopper have diagonal inclined forward surfaces4|, and behind the forward surfaces 4| are diagonally slotted at 42 toreceive the shoulders 43 of the sleeves 44 of the space bands. As wellknown, the sleeves slide in dovetail slots 45 in the space band body 46(Figure 14). Outward lugs 41 on the space band sleeve initially slide onthe inclined forward surfaces M of the hopper.

The various space bands are inclined in the hopper as shown in Figure'l, the lower ends being displaced rearwardly. The lug 41, at one sideof the forward space band slides under an inwardly projecting uppersurface 48 (Figure '7) of a retainer 50 which is mounted on the outsideof one of the sides 39 of the hopper. The retainer 50 is desirablyintegral with a guide 5| (Figure 10) secured to the outside of thehopper and having a guiding surface 52 (Figures 2 and 10) which retainsand guides a sliding feeder 53. The feeder 53 has an inwardly projecteddog 54 extending over the lower forward end of retainer 48, and thefeeder and the dog have a feeding notch 55 at the upper rear edge(Figure 11) which has a depth less than the thickness of the thinnestspace band. The feeder operates in a path below the retainer 48, andclosely adjacent to a lower forward inclined edge 56 of the retainer 48,which carries a suitable ball detent 51 held in the retainer (Figure 12)which is urged toward the feeder by compression spring 58.

Positioned opposite to the feeder and in position to engage the oppositelug 4! of the forwardmost space band from the lug engaged by the feederis a retainer 60 of L-shape, having a lug 5| which engages thecooperating lug on the forwardmost space band.

Thus to discharge the forwardmost space band, which is held behindretainer lug 6| at one side, and by notch 55 at the other side, feeder53 moves upwardly, raising the forwardmost space band by the lug engagedin feeding notch 55, pushing the space band lug past detent 51, whichprevents the raising of any other space band except the forwardmostspace band. The forwardmost space band is then lifted up to a positionin which it can ride over retainer 60, and when feeder 53 moves downagain to its lower position the space band falls over retainer 60 andover the top of feeder 53 and drops forward into horizontal position onthe bottom of the hopper (Figure 7).

The drive 24 comprises a crank 62 operated by handle 63 to turn a shaft64 on bearings 65 in the housing. The shaft carries a feed cam 66(Figures 2, 3 and 4) at an intermediate point and the feed cam engagesone end of a feed rocker 61 extending through a slot in the horizontalwall 38 of the housing. The rocker is pivoted at 68 in the housing andat the remote end from the cam engages the lower end of feeder 53(Figure 2). The feeder is urged downwardly against the rocker by tensionspring 10 operating between a suitable abutment on the housing and asuitable abutment on the feeder.

The knife assembly 23 comprises a suitably adjustable knife holder IIpivotally mounted on shaft 12 journalling in bearings 13 on the housing(Figures 2, 3, 4 and 6). A knife 14 (Figures 3 and 7) is gripped in theknife holder and downwardly and rearwardly disposed in position toscrape the upper portion of the sleeve 44 of the space band.

In order that the knife may not impede forward motion of the space bandand in order that its contact with the space band may be limited tocontact with the sleeve, a knife manipulating cam 15 on one end of shaft64 is engaged by cam follower 16 on cam arm 11 pivoted on knife shaft12. The cam arm is downwardly urged by tension spring 18 operatingbetween the arm and a suitable abutment on the housing.

Shaft 64 carries chain sprockets which support and turn two spacedcooperating feed chains 8| which at the forward end of the housing arecarried over sprockets 82 (Figures 13 and 14). At intervals along thechains and in aligned positions on the two chains, lugs 83 are carried,the lugs desirably being of U shape and extending upwardly and inwardlyover ribs 84 which extend longitudinally on either side of the centerassure and tend to confine the graphite or other polishing medium. thuskeeping the graphite on the polishing blocks.

Shaft. 6.4. carries. a gear 85 (Figures 2, 3, 4 and 6) which intermesheswith a gear 86 on stub shaft H, which in turn intermeshes. with av gear88- on a. shaft. 90 iournalled at. 90' on the frame (Figures 2-, 5 and6:). Shaftv Q carries a pusher arm M which moves through slots 93 in thebottom ofthe housing and is adapted to travel at a speed substantiallygreater than the speed of progression of the chains, suitably threetimes the speed or chain travel. The pusher is adapted to engage andforwardly move the body 46 of the. space. band with respect to thesleeve, so that abrasive, cleaning takes. place under the sleeve. Theengagement desirably occurs at a rearward central recess 02 (Figure. 7)in the body of the space band.

The slots 93- through which the pusher 9I moves are best, seen, in.Figure 5... The slots 9.3 are cartiedup through the bottom of a framepartition .4: which runs the full length of the. housing from a positionadjoining the knife to a position adjoining. the discharge hopper at thecenter and is. secured: to the housing sides 341. A polishing bed 9.4.on top of the frame partition 94 and secured: thereto, runs the fulllength of the machine at the middle of the discharge end and is alsoslotted: at 03. to. pass. the pusher.

At the top the housing is closed by angles 96 which; extend upwardly oneither. side of the center; and; are: closed at the top by a cap 91.. 7Between. and, guided in motion by upright arms of the. angles. andbeneath the cap are positioned a plurality of? cleaning blocks 9.0).,arranged one after another in aseries longitudinally and held againstmotion longitudinally by separators I00 onthebottom of the cap, whichhold each block in its. proper position and. insuretha-t it will actindividually; The blocks. 98; are downwardly urged by compression.springs IOI- which engage underthe cap 9:1 and seat in recessesI021atthe tops of the blocks; As best seen in Figures 8 and 9, thebottom surfaces of: the polishing blocks are provided'with.transverseextending ribs I03 separatedjbygroovesor notches I04.

The first of the blocks 98. is desirably longirtudinallyslotted atIMtore'ceive the pusherancl slotted at I04. at the lower face forthc'width. of

the body 461 of the space band, so that; the body will"; not be retardedwhen the pusher seeks to move, it forward. The; outer edge I carriesabrading;ribs- I06: extending transversely, which engage; the lugportionsof the sleeve of=the space hendrs nara ed va's oove I0 Thenextblock 9.0?is provided with anopening In]: through which a suitablecleaning medium such as graphite-is introduced as through a. funnel;IIIBand feedingtube IIO. A feeding rod I II is providedin the funnel andfeeding tube, and this is contactedat. its lower ball head I I2 by thespaceband and vibrates to aid inthe feeding of the medium from thefunnel.

The hou ing at: its: forward end is provided with a downwardlyprojecting bar II 3 above a hopper I I4. The bar receives the,spacetbands after they have been cleaned. The bar passes through a slotI :I 5'. in the end plate 3! and carries ears I I3 which engage oneither side-of the mated?! and-ho d. hebar. at itsunwardlvdirected @81 1Thedischarge hopper is; removably'fasned to the housing by bayonetjointsI- I 0. Take up on thechain sprockets 02 is providedby, screws Mi lb.

In operation, the. funnel is filled with graphite or other suitablemedium and space bands are arranged with their lugs uppermost and theirsleeves rearwardly in the direction of progression in the hopper. Thecrank is turned in the direction to move the pusher forward. causing thefeeder cam to manipulate feed rocker 61 andmove the feeder up and down.The forwardmost space band is engaged in the feed notch 5i and raisedabove retainer 60, sliding against ball. detent 51 to prevent theremoval of two space bands at 01166..

The space band, after raising above retainer 60 and detent 51,, slidesdownwardly over the feeder and over retainer 60 when the feeder islowered, and, drops into horizontal position on the polishing bed at.the bottom with lugs. H in position to be engaged by the lugs. 83 on thechain. The space band is now dragged forwardly and the. lugs 41: passunder the raised: knife due to the fact that. the knife cam 151s inhighposition when the lugs reach the knife. Immediately after the space bandlugs pass under the knife. the; knife drops under the action of theknife cam 1-5 and spring I8 and the knife. cleans the top. of the spaceband sleeve as the space band; moves. forward. Theknife: thenimmediately' raises under the action of the knife cam. As the. spaceband moves forward, the rearward end, of the body is engaged at 92. bythe rapidly forward driving pusher 5L, while the front lugs 41 on thesleeve are about opposite cross rib I06 of block 98'. The pushercarries'theentire space band forward until thelugs on the space bandsleeve engages.- cross rib; IIlIi on block 98 which retains the sleevewhile the space band continues to; move forward and thus polishes thespace band under the sleeve. It will benoted: that. the space band.sleeve 44; retarded by ribs I08 and I06. while the body moves forward,but when rib I06 is encountered. the sleevestays still held by rib I06while the body is pushed forward underthe rib I00 to be polished by thatrib beneath the sleeve. No rib exists between I06 (which engages. onlythelugs, 41-) sothat the spaceband moves forward relatively freely untilit encounters rib I063.

As soon as the pusher arm 9I- ceases to act, the. chain continues to.carry forward the. sleeve by the lugs 41 and; the body 46- again moves;to the rearward position withrespect to thesleeve. As the body movesrearwardly. relativ to the sleeve, the body is againpolished underthersleeve. As; thespace band movesunder each one of the polishingblocks it. is polished: bythe relative movement in the presence. of:the. graphite; the graphite being carriedalong byv the, space: bandsfrom. a position. near the funnel.

When thespace. bands arrive at. the forwardmost position theydropland'areimpaled on-.upwardly extending bar H3; while any excessgraphite collects in. discharge: hopper I14.

It: will be: evident that improved cleaning. and polishing are obtainedby the present invention, especially inspacebands beneath the sleeve andalso due. tothea scraping; action of the knife.

It will 1 further: be evident: that. the mechanism has been simplifiedand rendered much a more reliable by the improvements of" theinvention.v

In view of my invention and disclosure variations and modificationstomeet individualwhim or; particular need will doubtless become evident toothers skilledv in the art; to obtain all or part of the-benefits ofmyinvention without copying the. structureshown, andI, therefore, claimall such insofar as'they fall within the reasonable spirit and scope ofmy claims.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a machine for cleaning and polishing space bands and the like,means for forwardly progressing space bands having bodies and relativelyslidable sleeves, means for sliding the bodies along the space bandsrelatively to the sleeves at one position in the progression and meansfor polishing the bodies of the space bands under the sleeves as theyare moved relatively.

2. In a machine for polishing space bands and the like, a polishing bed,polishing blocks 00- operating with and urged against the bed, the spacebands having sleeves and relatively slidable bodies, chain meansengaging the sleeves and moving the space bands forwardly between thebed and the blocks and a pusher engaging the bodies of the space bandsand pushing them forward at a rate relatively greater than the rate ofprogression of the sleeves while the sleeves are relatively retarded inforward progression, thereby changing the position of the sleeve withrespect to the body during the polishing period.

3. In a machine for polishing space bands and the like having bodies andrelatively slidable sleeves, forwardly moving chains engaging thesleeves and thereby progressing the space bands forwardly, cooperatingpolishing elements resiliently urged together along the path of forwardmovement of the space bands and including a rib engaging and retardingthe successive sleeves and a pusher moving the body in excess of thechain and engaging the body of the space band to move it forward throughthe polishing elements while the sleeve is retarded by the rib, therebychanging the position of the sleeve with respect to the body during thepolishing period.

4. In a machine for cleaning and polishing space bands and the like, apolishing bed, a chain for progressing the space bands forwardly overthe bed, the space bands including slidable sleeves, a first polishingblock cooperating with the bed and relieved at the center to avoidpressure contact with the body while having engaging surfaces at theedges to make pressure contact with the sleeve, a second polishing blockhaving a rib extending clear across the path of the sleeve and body andcooperating with the bed, resilient means for urging the polishingblocks against the bed and a pusher moving at a rate in excess of thechain, engaging the body of the space band at a position at which thespace band is beneath the first polishing block and advancing the spaceband at least in part bodily until th sleeve engages the rib of thesecond polishing block and then advancing the body with respect to thesleeve.

5. In a polishing machine, walls forming a chamber for polishing medium,an agitating rod extending through the chamber, a polishing bed engagedby the lower end of the agitating rod, polishing blocks resilientlyurged down on the bed, one of which has an opening through which theagitating rod extends to the bed, and means for progressing work to bepolished along the bed beneath the blocks in position to contact andmanipulate the agitating rod.

6. In a machine for polishing space bands or the like having outwardlyextending lugs at one end, hopper side walls, and abutment engaging oneof the lugs of the forwardmost space band at the upper forward end, anda feeder having a.

feeder notch reciprocating from a position beneath the other lug to aposition above the space band, from which position the space band candrop over the abutment when the feeder is withdrawn.

7. In a polishing machine for space bands and the like having outwardlyextending lugs, side hopper walls having forwardly and downwardlyextending edges, a retainer extending inwardly from one of the walls andadapted to engage a lug at one side of the forwardmost space band, afeeder having a feeder notch adapted to engage the lug at the other sideof the forwardmost space band, and means for reciprocating the feederfrom the lower rearward position to an upper forward position andthereby raising the opposite lug of the forwardmost space band to aposition from which it can drop over the retainer when the feeder isretracted.

8. In a polishing machine for space bands and the like having outwardlyextending lugs, side hopper walls having forwardly and downwardlyextending edges, a retainer extending inwardly from one of the walls andadapted to engage a lug at one side of the forwardmost space band, afeeder having a feeder notch adapted to engage the lug at the other sideof the forwardmost space band, and a detent engaging one of the lugsduring the upward motion of the feeder to prevent simultaneous raisingof two space bands.

9. In a polishing machine for space bands and the like having outwardlyextending lugs, side hopper walls having forwardly and downwardlyextending edges, a retainer extending inwardly from one of the walls andadapted to engage a lug at one side of the forwardmost space band. afeeder having a feeder notch adapted to engage the lug at the other sideof the forwardmost space band, and a retainer extending over one of theside walls at the forwardly and downwardly sloping edge and having apath beneath the retainer through which the lug on a space band canslide while holding the space bands against rising while under theretainer.

10. In a polishing machine for space bands and the like having outwardlyextending lugs, side hopper walls having forwardly and downwardlyextending edges, a retainer extending inwardly from one of the walls andadapted to engage a lug at one side of the forwardmost space band, afeeder having a feeder notch adapted to engage the lug at the other sideof the forwardmost space band, a retainer extending over one of the sidewalls at the forwardly and downwardly sloping edge and having a pathbeneath the retainer through which the lug on a space band can slidewhile holding the space bands against rising while under the retainerand a detent at the forward edge of the retainer engaging the lug on thespace band or bands which are raised by the feeder and preventingsimultaneous raising of more than one space band.

GEORGE P. HARTZEIL.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 1,371,221 Burke Mar. 15, 1921 2,231,196 Romyns Feb. 11, 19412,288,944 Fuller July 7, 1942 2,307,984 Brand Jan. 12, 1943 2,358,283Walters Sept. 12, 1944

